Membership

The Society provides a varied programme of events, including lectures, recitals and films, group discussions.

A community of people who are knowledgeable in many aspects of the works of Richard Wagner and are keen to share their knowledge and expertise.

Friendly and lively discussions are a feature of our meetings which always include refreshments.

Wagner’s birthday, 22nd May, is celebrated with a dinner or luncheon each year.

Regular issues of our newsletter, “Wagner News” the aim of which is to serve as a source of information about proposed Wagner productions in Australia and around the world, and to provide a forum for discussion and opinion from members.

Access to the full range of Web Site facilities including the most recent edition of “Wagner News” which is available for online viewing and download.

If you have any questions about membership of the Society, you can contact the Treasurer here: Contact the Treasurer

Your membership of the Richard Wagner Society Inc. expires at the end of the membership year, i.e. on 30 June.

If you renew your membership before 30 June, your new membership period starts on 1 July.

If you have not renewed your membership by 30 June, your membership becomes Overdue and you will have a 3-month period of grace, i.e. from 1 July to 30 September, where you will still receive the benefits of membership including receiving the FOCIS newsletter.

If you renew your membership during this period, i.e. by 30 September, your new membership period will start from 1 July.

If you have not renewed your membership by 30 September, your membership becomes Lapsed and you will no longer receive any benefits of membership.

If you have any questions about membership of the Society, you can contact the Treasurer here: Contact the Treasurer

The Society does not favour the use of Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for paying membership subscriptions.

Experience shows that there are 3 drawbacks with the EFT approach:

It’s not user-friendly.

It’s easy for errors to occur.

It’s extremely difficult to obtain an accurate record of who has made a payment and what the payment is for.

Not User Friendly

It’s not user-friendly because you first have to access the Society’s web site to submit your application and take a note of how much is owing. You then switch across to your bank’s Internet banking web site and login to your Internet banking service. You enter the payment details including the amount previously noted – hopefully you enter the amount owing without making a transcription error. You enter your name in the very limited space that is available (if you have a very short name, no problem but if you have a longer name, you will have to abbreviate). You also enter the reason for the payment. You have a very limited amount of space for this so you will need to get creative when you try and explain what the payment is for.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, you only enter the data once because your order and your payment are handled together.

Error Prone

It’s easy for errors to occur because you have to make sure that you enter the Society’s BSB number and bank account number correctly. You might enter the account number incorrectly but that number may represent a valid bank account. In this case, the money is transferred into the wrong bank account. This causes problems where you insist you have paid but the Society insists it never got the money.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, the payment is sent to the Society’s PayPal account automatically and you do not have to enter any account identifiers.

Difficult to Work Out Who has Paid for What

When you use your Internet banking service, there is limited space available for you to enter your name. There is also a limited amount of space for you to enter the reason for the payment.

When the Society gets the bank statement, we then have to try and decipher the shorthand entries on the statement so that the payments can be properly accounted for.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, the Society receives an email with the full details of your payment including your name, your address, your email address, the amount of the payment and the reason for the payment. You also receive an email with this same information.

If you have any questions about membership of the Society, you can contact the Treasurer here: Contact the Treasurer

In this case, you need to have a PayPal account. If you already have a PayPal account, you can submit your payment simply by entering your PayPal account name (email address) and PayPal password when prompted to do so. If you wish to open a PayPal account, you can do so free of charge here: https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/get-started

EFT from your Bank Account

In this case, you need to have a PayPal account and you need to link your bank account to your PayPal account.

Credit Card Payment

In this case, you don’t need to have a PayPal account and you can submit your payment using your credit card. When you submit your payment, PayPal will invite you to open a PayPal account but this is optional.

Debit Card Payment

In this case, you don’t need to have a PayPal account and you can submit your payment using your debit card. When you submit your payment, PayPal will invite you to open a PayPal account but this is optional.

If there is no currency exchange involved with your payment, e.g. the item you are purchasing is priced in Australian dollars and you are paying in Australian dollars, there is no extra cost to you, the purchaser, for using PayPal (even if you choose to pay by credit card).

However, if your payment involves a foreign currency, e.g. the item you are purchasing is priced in Australian dollars and you are paying in British Pounds, then you will be charged a foreign currency fee by PayPal.

You have the option of creating your own personal PayPal account.

You need to do this if you wish to:

Use your PayPal account as your source of funds.

Use your bank account as your source of funds.

You can choose not to do so if you wish to:

Pay using your credit card.

Pay using your debit card.

If you do decide to create your own PayPal account, there are no establishment fees or annual or monthly fees or any other fees.

Please note that although there no fees charged by PayPal, your bank or credit card provider may charge you a fee.

If the Society was to become a credit card merchant, there would be many other fees in addition to a transaction fee for each transaction such as establishment fees, joining fees, annual administration fees, monthly access fees, minimum merchant service fees, credit card authorisation fees.

On the other hand, as a PayPal merchant, the Society only has to pay a small transaction fee for each PayPal transaction. This is similar to the merchant fee that would apply for any credit card transaction.

It’s extremely difficult to obtain an accurate record of who has made a payment and what the payment is for.

Not User Friendly

It’s not user-friendly because you first have to access the Society’s web site to submit your application and take a note of how much is owing. You then switch across to your bank’s Internet banking web site and login to your Internet banking service. You enter the payment details including the amount previously noted – hopefully you enter the amount owing without making a transcription error. You enter your name in the very limited space that is available (if you have a very short name, no problem but if you have a longer name, you will have to abbreviate). You also enter the reason for the payment. You have a very limited amount of space for this so you will need to get creative when you try and explain what the payment is for.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, you only enter the data once because your order and your payment are handled together.

Error Prone

It’s easy for errors to occur because you have to make sure that you enter the Society’s BSB number and bank account number correctly. You might enter the account number incorrectly but that number may represent a valid bank account. In this case, the money is transferred into the wrong bank account. This causes problems where you insist you have paid but the Society insists it never got the money.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, the payment is sent to the Society’s PayPal account automatically and you do not have to enter any account identifiers.

Difficult to Work Out Who has Paid for What

When you use your Internet banking service, there is limited space available for you to enter your name. There is also a limited amount of space for you to enter the reason for the payment.

When the Society gets the bank statement, we then have to try and decipher the shorthand entries on the statement so that the payments can be properly accounted for.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, the Society receives an email with the full details of your payment including your name, your address, your email address, the amount of the payment and the reason for the payment. You also receive an email with this same information.

Yes. You can make an online payment using your credit card or your debit card.

We use the payment services provided by PayPal to handle online payments.

PayPal offers you 4 payment choices:

Payment from your PayPal account.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) from your bank account.

Credit Card.

Debit Card.

If you choose to use your credit card or your debit card, you don’t need to have a PayPal account and you can submit your payment using your credit card/debit card. When you submit your payment, PayPal will invite you to open a PayPal account but this is optional.

We use the payment services provided by PayPal to handle online payments.

PayPal offers you 4 payment choices:

Payment from your PayPal account.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) from your bank account.

Credit Card.

Debit Card.

If you choose to use your PayPal account as your source of funds, you will need to have a PayPal account. If you already have a PayPal account, you can submit your payment simply by entering your PayPal account name (email address) and PayPal password when prompted to do so. If you wish to open a PayPal account, you can do so free of charge here: https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/get-started

No. There is no need to supply a mobile phone number when you make an online payment. However, if you wish to pay using a credit card or debit card, there is a need to supply a phone number which could be a mobile number, a home number or a work number.

A phone number is only required if you have chosen the option “Pay with a credit or debit card”. In this case, you have to provide your contact details including full name, billing address, a phone number and an email address. This is common practice for any credit card or debit card payment over the web. The reason given by PayPal for requiring a phone number is “We’ll use this to contact you in case there’s a problem with your account or purchase.”

On the other hand, if you choose the option “Pay with my PayPal account”, you can simply login to your PayPal account to complete the payment. In this case, you will be able to choose your funding source which could be your PayPal account, your linked bank account, your credit card or your debit card.

Not really. It’s more of a small step into the 20th century. Although the use of online payments may be seen as a radical, new-fangled idea we need to consider this from an historical perspective:

The World Wide Web has been with us for 25+ years. Sir Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee, OM, KBE, FRS, FREng, FRSA, DFBCS, a British engineer and computer scientist and MIT professor is credited with inventing the World Wide Web, making the first proposal for it in March 1989.

Electronic commerce over the Web (including online payments) has been around for over 20 years, the most famous example being amazon.com which has been in business since 1994.

Online auctions have been around for 20+ years, the most famous example being eBay which was founded in 1995.

PayPal has been in business since 1998. As of 2014, PayPal operates in 203 markets and has 152 million active, registered accounts. PayPal allows customers to send, receive, and hold funds in 26 currencies worldwide.

Yes. The PayPal site is highly secure. They use industry-leading technology (such as SSL) to keep your information safe.

PayPal automatically encrypts your confidential information in transit from your computer to theirs using the Secure Sockets Layer protocol (SSL) with an encryption key length of 128-bits (the highest level commercially available). Before you even register or log in to the PayPal site, their server checks that you’re using an approved browser – one that uses SSL 3.0 or higher.

Once your information reaches the PayPal site, it resides on a server that is heavily guarded both physically and electronically. PayPal servers sit behind an electronic firewall and are not directly connected to the internet, so your private information is available only to authorised computers.

TechnologyTheir state-of-the-art fraud models and proprietary fraud engine work together to help stop fraudulent transactions before they happen. In addition, PayPal stays at the forefront of security, developing many anti-fraud technologies every year.

ExperienceWith PayPal, you’ve got the industry’s most experienced fraud team on your side. PayPal processes billions of dollars in payments each year, allowing us to continually perfect our anti-fraud protections. As a result, PayPal’s loss rate is significantly lower than the industry average. We also work with federal law enforcement to catch criminals.

PrivacyPayPal is committed to protecting the privacy of our users. When you send or request money using PayPal, recipients never see your bank account numbers or credit card numbers. They only see your email address, date of sign-up, and whether or not you have completed PayPal’s Verification process.

Donations

Unless you specify otherwise, donations are held in the Richard Wagner Society Special Productions Fund.

The purpose of the Fund is to provide financial support to Australian productions of Wagner’s operas and encourage and assist singers and musicians who display interest in and ability to perform Wagner’s music.

Donations of $2.00 or more to the Richard Wagner Society Special Productions Fund are tax-deductible. The Richard Wagner Society Special Productions Fund has been endorsed as a DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) Fund and is listed on the Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO) maintained under Subdivision 30-B of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

Donations of $2.00 or more to the Richard Wagner Society Special Productions Fund are tax-deductible. The Richard Wagner Society Special Productions Fund has been endorsed as a DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) Fund and is listed on the Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO) maintained under Subdivision 30-B of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

The Society does not favour the use of Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for paying for bookings.

Experience shows that there are 3 drawbacks with the EFT approach:

It’s not user-friendly.

It’s easy for errors to occur.

It’s extremely difficult to obtain an accurate record of who has made a payment and what the payment is for.

Not User Friendly

It’s not user-friendly because you first have to access the Society’s web site to submit your application and take a note of how much is owing. You then switch across to your bank’s Internet banking web site and login to your Internet banking service. You enter the payment details including the amount previously noted – hopefully you enter the amount owing without making a transcription error. You enter your name in the very limited space that is available (if you have a very short name, no problem but if you have a longer name, you will have to abbreviate). You also enter the reason for the payment. You have a very limited amount of space for this so you will need to get creative when you try and explain what the payment is for.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, you only enter the data once because your order and your payment are handled together.

Error Prone

It’s easy for errors to occur because you have to make sure that you enter the Society’s BSB number and bank account number correctly. You might enter the account number incorrectly but that number may represent a valid bank account. In this case, the money is transferred into the wrong bank account. This causes problems where you insist you have paid but the Society insists it never got the money.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, the payment is sent to the Society’s PayPal account automatically and you do not have to enter any account identifiers.

Difficult to Work Out Who has Paid for What

When you use your Internet banking service, there is limited space available for you to enter your name. There is also a limited amount of space for you to enter the reason for the payment.

When the Society gets the bank statement, we then have to try and decipher the shorthand entries on the statement so that the payments can be properly accounted for.

However, when the payment is handled via PayPal, the Society receives an email with the full details of your payment including your name, your address, your email address, the amount of the payment and the reason for the payment. You also receive an email with this same information.

If you have any questions about paying for your booking, you can contact the Treasurer here: Contact the Treasurer